


Underneath the Tree

by Babylawyer



Series: PPNR [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Flash Forward, Fluff, OQ as professional dancers, Outlaw Queen Advent Calendar 2020 (Once Upon a Time), References to The Nutcracker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:15:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27992109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babylawyer/pseuds/Babylawyer
Summary: Former professional dancers Regina and Robin enjoy watching their son Henry perform in The Nutcracker, and have fun preparing for Christmas with their boys. But this Christmas brings with it some big changes for the Locksley-Mills family.Written for OQ Advent 2020
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Robin Hood
Series: PPNR [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050158
Comments: 18
Kudos: 24





	Underneath the Tree

Her boys look absolutely adorable. Henry decked out in his costume, and Roland in this dapper white dress shirt and slacks with a red bow tie he'd picked out himself that's so freaking cute on him it makes her eyes water.

Regina had thought getting their three-and-a-half year old son into something presentable for the ballet would be a challenge, but instead, he surprised them by wanting "fancy clothes." He is wearing his Frosty socks under his black dress pants and shoes, but no one will know that until he shows them—and she has no doubt he will show them to anyone and everyone.

Henry looks nervous, and she knows he's dreading the pictures she is going to make them take. But it's his big night, his last performing as one of the children in The Nutcracker.

Regina never wanted to push her children into dance, and truthfully it surprised her that shy Henry wanted to try it, but it helped to bring him out of his shell. While she doubts Henry will follow in her and Robin's footsteps and go pro, it's so lovely to see him dancing, to watch him practice and refine his technique.

Neither she nor Robin teaches his classes, but she can't imagine it's easy being the son of, not one, but two of the instructors, who both happen to have worked professionally in this city, and still do from time to time.

As much as she had fun the last few performances dancing alongside Henry and Robin, she is very much looking forward to sitting back and watching his performance from the audience, with her husband and Roland beside her.

Her husband, who needs to get his ass down here so they can take some pictures before it's time to go.

They are waiting in the entryway, _Run Run Rudolph_ playing in the background, festive garland lining the staircase, which she originally thought would be perfect for the pictures, but perhaps the living room with the tree as the backdrop would be better. They certainly are festive, Robin will be in that emerald button-down she so loves on him, then Roland with his bowtie, Henry with his green pinstriped jacket, and her in a red suit she usually wears braless and open almost to her belly button—come to think of it, that might be what's holding Robin up, they have many good memories associated with this suit. She'd toned it down with a white camisole, but when he spied her putting it on before he jumped in the shower he'd had a few things to say about how unfair it was for her to tease him with it. Her husband seemed to have conveniently forgotten that it was his idea for their family to dress up in red and green, she only has one other red option, and he's peeled that keyhole dress off her enough times that there's no way it's not also tempting.

"Where's Papa?" Roland asks, tapping his foot impatiently.

"I think he's still getting ready, but why don't you go check, sweetheart?"

Roland bellows in a surprisingly loud blast from such a little body, "Papa, hurry up!"

That was not at all what she meant, but she snickers and looks over at Henry to find him doing the same.

"I think Mom meant go upstairs, Ro," Henry comments, being helpful but kind as per usual.

They really lucked out with their sons, Henry is so sweet and patient with Roland, and Roland, he's a little firecracker, so full of energy, zest for life and questions, constant questions. She worried when they first adopted Roland that they would somehow fuck him up, worried about that with Henry, too, and still does sometimes, but he's grown into a lovely boy, with the patience of someone far beyond his eight years—something he needs with Roland as a sibling.

Henry has always been quiet and though they didn't know him at this age, having adopted him just after his fourth birthday, she's confident he was never this vivacious.

Roland starts to rush toward the stairs, but there's no need, because when she looks up to ensure he's climbing carefully, she sees Robin exiting their bedroom. He looks good, even better when he takes care of scolding Roland for running up the stairs, reminding him to use the railing and that he'll hurt himself if he doesn't take them slowly. It's a lesson that always seems to fall on deaf ears, but hopefully one of these times it will stick.

When Robin reaches Roland, he scoops him up into his arms, making him squeal and giggle. She smiles up at them, then smiles harder when Robin reaches her and gives her a soft kiss on the cheek, one that Roland repeats more wetly and sloppily.

"Alright, picture time, then we need to go," Regina tells her boys, gesturing toward the living room. She decided they'll take a few pictures in both, and she can decide once she's seen the pictures which is the better location.

"Wait, one second," Robin comments, backing away from her and Henry so he can twirl Roland around before setting him down. "That's better. Oh, but one more thing…" he says, his eyes twinkling.

Regina raises an eyebrow, urging him on, and he winks her before stating, "Alexa, play I Got My Love to Keep Me Warm."

It's his favourite Christmas song and she adds a _By Idina Menzel_ to that request so the best version plays.

"I've got my loves right here," Robin tells them, as the bouncy intro starts up. He starts singing, "The snow is snowing and the wind it is blowing, but I can weather the storm," as he takes Roland and Henry's hands to lead them to the tree.

Regina loves that she didn't have to tell him where she wanted them, that he just knew. And she feels the sentiment as Idina croons _What do I care if icicles form, I've got my love to keep me warm_. She's not normally so sappy, but something about the holidays with her husband and children makes her sentimental.

She positions them all amidst complaints, jumping in herself after she sets up the tripod. Roland and Henry in the front, she and Robin behind them, then a set of them in a line, a set with Roland in her arms, Henry in Robin's and an adorably hilarious one where Henry picks up Roland. She takes several of each since Roland tends to move or blink during, then it's time to do them in the entry. She tests them on the stairs but she's not really happy with it and Roland's getting antsy, so she settles for a few off of the stairs before it's time to go.

The car trip is full of excited Roland ramblings and questions, because it's his first time seeing a ballet. That's not exactly true, because as a baby he accompanied Robin to the studio more than once, and even sat in on a full dress rehearsal, but once he was mobile (and more importantly, chatty), he stopped going to work with them.

Henry gets dropped off backstage with goodbyes kisses from them she knows he will soon turn his nose up at, then they go for a walk outside, keeping Roland occupied with stories of The Nutcracker. It starts to snow lightly as they walk, and despite his protests, Roland gets scooped into his father's arms, for fear he'll slip in those dress shoes.

By the time they get back they can take their seats, but they sneak off into a hallway and let Roland run about for a bit to burn off some of his excess energy. They aren't sure how well this is going to go, but he wanted to see his brother perform, and who were they to deny him?

Once they've worn Roland down a bit, they make their way to their seats. They place him between them, a seat left beside Regina for Henry, because he's only in Act One, and manage to keep him entertained until the lights go dim.

"It's starting!" Roland bellows, and Regina flushes as she shushes him, snickers sounding off around them. The yelling doesn't bode well for the rest of the performances, but as it turns out she needn't have worried, because as soon as the curtain rises, Roland is mesmerized.

Aside from the occasional gasps of wonder Roland says nothing, asks no questions, makes no comments, and Regina's heart swells when she looks over to find him completely engrossed, eyes wide, mouth open and upturned.

Then she looks back to the stage, just in time for the scene to change. This is it. This is Henry's big moment. Though she's seen every one of his performances, she still warms with pride when she spies him on stage. She is so proud of him, and he dances his part beautifully for his age.

His only scene is over before she knows it, and she stands up as she applauds, not caring how it makes her look. She's a proud mom and the whole world should know it.

She sits quickly though, as the lights start to raise for the rats to come out.

For so long The Nutcracker was a necessary evil, a ballet she'd danced over and over and had no desire to repeat. It was long arduous, and not challenging. But now that she doesn't dance most of some twenty-odd shows every year, she enjoys it so much more. It's also one of the few shows she's still guaranteed to dance if she wants to, which makes it special in ways she never would have anticipated. The irony of that is not lost on her.

The Clara dancing tonight is one of her students, one of her favourite students, so she makes a point to observe her closely before Mary Margaret and Naveen grace the stage as the Snow Queen and King.

Mary Margaret dances the role exceedingly well, no one the wiser that she spent the morning throwing up because of an eleven-week old fetus.

When she was pregnant with Emma, Mary Margaret kept dancing into her six month, but she was younger then, and didn't have a two-year-old at home keeping her up. She's going to be bowing out of the last show of the season, but Regina will not be surprised if she also takes herself out of consideration for the February show if things don't start to change.

Mary Margaret really is one of the most breathtaking dancers Regina has ever seen, and it's a treat to see her in anything, but especially given her imminent retirement.

When the first act ends, Roland is all smiles as he recounts to them his favourite parts. Unsurprisingly he loved the rats, and he now wants his toys to come to life, something she hadn't thought about but will be something he wants for a long time, of that she's sure. He doesn't tend to forget about these things, and this will inevitably be Toy Story part two, where he keeps himself up in hopes of catching what doesn't actually happen.

At least it's Christmas break this time, so he can sleep in.

Henry joins them all changed into an adorable shirt that matches his father's that Robin must have bought without telling her. She didn't think much of it when Robin insisted on packing Henry's change of clothes, but now she insists on getting a photo of the two of them. A nice older gentleman asks if they'd like a family photo and she readily agrees, smiling broadly when she takes in the beautiful photo. They all look genuinely happy, not staged, or impatient as Roland usually does, just happy. That's the one she'll frame and put up.

Roland of course has to show that man his socks, and that's how they spend the rest of the intermission.

By the time they are mid-way through Act Two Roland's asleep, and she wiggles her jacket from behind her back (which she kept at her seat instead of checking for this exact purpose) and sets it over him as a blanket.

Henry enjoys the dancing, whispers a few comments in her ear that make her smile and nod. She's so happy they can all enjoy this together, as a family.

The Nutcracker has been a staple in her life since she was seven and her father surprised her with tickets. By the time she was twelve, she was dancing it, and it was only in her teens that she didn't watch it, but it was a performance her friends decided to attend that got her back into it, and she danced it every year after that.

It's a Locksley-Mills family affair, and maybe next year Roland will catch the back half, but even if he doesn't it's worth the price of a ticket to see his face when it starts.

* * *

It's snowing lightly outside, and amazingly, it's staying, not melting like the few light snowfalls they've had this year have done.

Regina keeps getting distracted looking out the kitchen window as she watches the snow fall, the flakes floating down gently, somehow swirling and crossing over each other.

It's fitting that their first real snowfall is on Christmas Eve and she's thankful that they will have a white Christmas after all. Though they don't always have snow for Christmas, it never really feels like Christmas for her without a smattering of snow on the ground.

The boys are snickering over _Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer_ , which they are re-playing for the fifth time in a row this morning. Henry cannot sing to save his life, and she's fairly certain he's tone-deaf—not that Roland's much better as he can barely carry a tune, but they are enjoying their sing-a-long, and she'd never take that fun away from them, like her mother would have.

Cora Mills never met her grandchildren, having passed just before she and Robin adopted Henry, but Regina thinks that's a good thing. While she aches sometimes thinking of how good her father would have been with the boys, how much they would have loved him, she knows her mother would have the opposite effect.

Cora's death is how they can afford this house, the elaborate Christmas gifts, the reason they could afford to adopt again.

Regina never had days like this when she was a child, there was no family cooking, singing or merriment in the Mills household, it was cold, gray and austere, filled with scoldings and snide comments.

But Robin loves to cook, and claims he loves having them help though all he does is critique her work. The boys are tasked with decorating the Gingerbread cookies they'd helped her make, while she's tasked with separating the pizza dough Robin made overnight into balls with cheese in the middle. All of the balls are supposed to be the same size, get put together to make a pull-part garlic bread Christmas Tree, but she doesn't have the skill or the patience to make them all the same—something Robin keeps frowning over.

Her next one is far too big, so much so that she pulls off some of the dough and starts to reshape it.

Robin sighs, "You can't do that, the cheese won't be in the middle anymore. You need to open it up and start again."

She gives him a look, one she's already given him at least four times this morning, that reminds him he asked her to assist, and if he wants her assistance to continue he needs to calm down on the commentary. He's a perfectionist when it comes to his dinners, but if he wants things done his way he needs to do them himself.

"Momma look," Roland cackles gleefully, "I made me, and Henry, and you, and Papa."

Regina's very glad he points to who is who because she never would have guessed. The one with the smeared blue across the whole thing is Robin, she's the smeared red with the face left empty apart from two brown candies for eyes that aren't attached in any way, then Henry and Roland have matching green and browns on their bodies, and eye candies that Henry is attaching with icing.

"And here's Santa," Roland goes on, "And this is our dog Santa brings me for Christmas. His name is Lucky and he's my favourite."

"They're very pretty," she comments, ruffling his curls.

"I know!" Roland proclaims, then picks up another cookie and shoves it into her face, "This one is my favourite, look, Momma, look."

She steps back a little to see and is unsurprised by what she sees. This gingerbread man is covered in icing of all colours and decked out with at least one of each candy.

"That's a lot of candy on him, but I thought Lucky was your favourite."

Roland chews at his lip, pondering for a moment before he shrugs and answers, "They are both my favourite."

She looks to Henry's then and the contrast is stark. Henry's have all been planned out, lines painstakingly drawn. It's more effort than she would put in, but the result is a set of beautiful cookies, each one with subtle differences.

"These are almost too pretty to eat," she tells Henry, and he looks down, smiling softly and breathing out a soft _Thank you_ she knows means he's touched and sincerely appreciated the compliment.

"Um, excuse me, dear wife, you've abandoned the Christmas tree, we can't have our guests tomorrow starving," Robin comments, and she turns and sticks her tongue at him, making him and their sons laugh.

Looking around the kitchen at all the prep work, which she knows is not even half of what will be served tomorrow, she raises a brow and throws a barb of her own, "Um, excuse me, dear husband, are we expecting an entire army tomorrow? When is the second seating?"

Robin shakes his head, "No one leaves my Christmas dinner hungry."

"Well, no kidding when you make enough food for four times the people who are attending."

Robin scoffs, "Pssh, you underestimate their appetites."

That may be so but, "You overestimate them. When have we not had an insane amount of leftovers?"

"Leftovers are a key part of Christmas, now get back to work on the tree before I just do it myself and get you to cut up the sweet potatoes."

She purses her lips, "If you value staying married you'll cut your own potatoes."

Robin laughs, no doubt remembering the time she tried to cut up some very firm sweet potatoes with an old dull knife and ended up straining her wrist while also getting the knife stuck.

Robin starts on cutting up his smaller potatoes, slicing them into perfectly even halves, while she returns to the bread tree.

While Robin has always cooked up a storm for Christmas, it's never been quite like this. For years their Christmas was a potluck with the other dancers. Robin's dishes were always a hit there, and as the years went on he started making more and more dishes, until half the company who attended their dinner were just paying Robin to make their contribution for them.

When they moved to this house, Robin started fully hosting the dinner and was quite excited to have the dual ovens and much larger space to prep everything himself. Their guests only needed to bring themselves, and the dinner have only gotten more elaborate as the years went on.

This year is the first year he's hosting as a retired dancer, as someone who didn't dance the matinee show of The Nutcracker that's currently going on. So naturally, he's gone even bigger this time, with more day-before prep than ever.

When she eventually finishes up her tree, the boys have finished with the cookies, so she stashes her dish in the freezer and proclaims it's time to go play in the snow.

The boys both run out into the hall to get their stuff on, and Robin smiles, telling her he'll be out in a minute.

First though, he undoes the ties of her Christmas apron, holding them behind her neck as he kisses her softly whispering, "I love you," before taking it from her and hanging it on the hook.

"I love you, too, now hurry up before you miss the fun in the snow."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he tells her, as Roland starts yelling for her because he's already ready and _really_ wants to go outside.

She gets into her jacket and boots quickly, pleased that Henry already zipped Roland in.

Both boys look adorable in their snowsuits, Roland's a blue one-piece with Christmas trees, polar bears, and reindeers, while Henry's in his dark blue snow pants and matching coat.

The snow is still falling lightly when they make it outside, and Roland immediately jumps down into the scant inch on the ground to make a snow angel.

Henry sits down and starts to draw something in the snow, and it takes a minute until she realizes he's making a snowflake.

It's quiet aside from Roland's occasional shrieks and giggles, and not too cold out. It's barely cold enough for the snow to stay, but enough she's glad for the gloves and hat she put on.

This is the life, watching her boys playing in the snow, not a care in the world.

Then there are arms around her waist, and a warm body cuddled around her dropping a kiss to her hat.

She shifts in Robin's arms to smile at him and finds him looking at the boys like she just was. When he looks at her and smiles, she feels herself warm with affection for him.

They have so much to be grateful for.

* * *

The rest of Christmas Eve had brought more prep, then Christmas movies and excited predictions from their boys about what presents they would be getting—Henry's far more accurate than his brothers. They'd watched the old claymation Christmas movies, until she had declared it bedtime, so she and Robin could lay out all of the gifts and do the stockings.

They'd been woken up this morning at 6:30am by an excited Roland, and by 7:15, all the presents had been opened.

Robin surprised her with these beautiful poinsettia drop earrings she's now wearing and a gift card for a spa day. She'd gotten him a 'pour some gravy on me' apron she'd spied in a store window and couldn't stop laughing at, and an outdoor pizza oven he cannot wait to try out in the spring.

The boys were spoiled, and toys that will have to be picked up later are strewn across the living room as they test out their gifts.

She should start cleaning up, should move from her husband's arms where she's currently burrowed, but she's too content to move just yet.

Then her phone rings, and when she checks the caller ID her breath catches. It's their adoption agency, and she can't imagine they'd call on Christmas for anything but good news…

She wills herself not to get her hopes up, but it's a fruitless exercise. Someone has picked them, this _has_ to be what this is.

Though this is not her first experience with this, at all, her hands shake as she whispers to Robin it's the agency. She watches as his face lights up with cautious excitement while she answers the phone with an energetic, "Hello?"

"I hope I'm not interrupting but a birth mother has chosen you." Regina puts the phone on speaker then, too full of bliss to register the specifics, though she knows she should be paying full attention. This is the best Christmas gift ever. She barely catches what else is said but knows she's told to get down to the hospital.

Holy shit, this is happening so fast. She's already born. If all goes well they could take her home today, could get a baby for Christmas.

Robin takes over, assuring the social worker they will be right there as Regina breathes, "Oh my god."

Robin hugs her tightly, "We're getting another baby. Our daughter's been born, and on Christmas, I…" he trails off as his voice catches and tears flood his eyes. Hers are equally wet but seeing him so emotional has the tears falling harder.

She didn't think it would happen so quickly, thought for sure they'd have another disappointment before ending up with their child, like what happened before they got Roland.

She nods at her husband, clinging to him as the emotions overwhelm her. They are going to be parents again, their boys will have a sister. This family of four is now a family of five. She basks in the bliss and relief for a second, accepting a hug from an excited Henry, before her practical side takes over.

"Oh god, there is so much to do, and who will look after the boys?" Roland hasn't said anything or acknowledged what's happening and oh god, will he be okay with this? It's such a big change and so fast. But also, "We can't pull people from their plans, and the nursery is only sort of set up. It still has Roland's dinosaur theme, I thought I'd paint it though… thought we'd have more time and what are we going to do about Christmas dinner?"

"Breathe, love, breathe." Robin soothes, pulling her in close again, "I'll call Mary Margaret to come watch the boys, we have everything we need here. She can sleep in the bassinet in our room for a while if you decide you want to paint. I replaced the formula stash a month and a half ago, we've still got diapers, we're ready. We prepared for this moment, remember."

He's right, they did, but she hadn't let herself believe it would happen this quickly. With Roland, they were chosen four months before his birth so there was plenty of time to get everything ready.

"She's here," Regina marvel, and Robin nods.

"She is."

"I asked for a dog, not a sister," Roland grouses, and Regina laughs for probably too long at that remark, but her emotions are all over the place.

Mary Margaret is over in twenty minutes, shooing off Regina's apologies for tearing her away from her family on Christmas.

"Emma's two, it's not like she's going to remember, now go so I can snuggle that beautiful baby girl of yours."

Robin leaves extremely detailed instructions on how to prep his Christmas dinner, that's moving to Mary Margaret and David's but will still make use of their ovens. Regina ends up driving so he can text all the instructions to Mary Margaret, David and August who he's calling in for back up. It's an odd thing to fixate on, the perfect Christmas dinner, but she knows it's a distraction from all his worries, a way to channel all his nerves over this.

Neither of them have forgotten the calls they got that didn't work out, and while it's not in her nature to be so positive, she somehow knows this is going to work out. This is their baby, she can feel it.

Her nerves start to flare when they arrive, but they fade away when she sees their daughter. She's absolutely stunning, pink and soft, and sweet, half asleep in their social worker, Ellen's, arms. Regina falls in love as soon as she sees her, and it increases ten-fold when she holds their tiny, sleepy daughter in her arms.

As Regina holds her, Ellen explains that Robyn is theirs to take home, that it's twenty-four hours post-birth now and the birth mother has signed away all rights.

"Robyn," Regina breathes, turning to Ellen to ask, "Does she have a middle name?"

Ellen chuckles, "Yes, it's Margot."

"Welcome to the family, Robyn Margot Locksley, you are the best Christmas gift we could have ever asked for."

With a full heart, she passes their daughter to her husband and watches in wonder as he tells her how much he loves her.

There has never been a more perfect Christmas, of that she's sure.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally I started the story of how these two got together as my advent but I wasn’t able to finish it in time. You can read the start of that AU by clicking the next fic the series :)


End file.
